Castlevania Miscellanies

[copy-paster]

Finished HOD with 200% completion and all secrets obtained, I like the subtle change of Lydie leans on Juicy's hand in the ending, "LETS MAKE ANOTHER BELMONT JUICY-KUN"

Overall it's average; Boss battles are piss easy only Maxim 2nd form really puts up a fight (fun challenge to fight him without using potions), mid-game backtracking is insane with switching castle back and forth when it was only available in Clock Tower and apparently there's a huge race room in said tower that brought me HC's Jungle Boss PTSD, must be Takashi Takeda who vetoed this idea. I do want to play the Boss rush mode later and curious about the unlocked 8-bit Simon playable on said mode, let's see if he would make the game any challenging with his original controls intact.

[Klatrymadon]

Simon in HOD is good fun but won't provide much of a challenge - his whip attacks are devastating and he's very much geared towards speedrunning the bosses rather than puzzling them out.

HOD has always been my favourite of the GBA/DS run. The action is a little easy, but it's really dynamic (incorporating those L and R dashes nicely in most encounters) and engaging. I have a huge admiration for the game as one of the vanishingly few examples of the genre to be unafraid to let the player get confused and lost, which is something I value quite highly in these things. It isn't frictionless, and it's all the better for it, I think. It also has incredible music which has historically been done dirty because it isn't full of 'iconic' hummable action themes or whatever. It almost sounds like it's soundtracking a silent horror film at times. It's all dreary chamber quartets backed up by jazz bands going bananas, and it's glorious.

[Steven]

Is there a hack that gives Akumajou Densetsu the difficulty of Castlevania III or gives Castlevania III the music of Akumajou Densetsu?

[copy-paster]

Don't think there's such hack exists but there is AD translation while keeping CV3 relevant like still keeping Trevor as his name. Apparently there's also this improved controls hack but according to some user reviews here, the hack becomes impossible to progress in one of Alucard route unless you bring Grant on such stage (and it was Sunken city stage! best stage being put in a worst route and worst glitch ).

[Steven]

Damn. I REALLY want the music of Akumajou Densetsu with the difficulty of Castlevania III. The only reason that I haven't really played Castlevania III is the music. It sucks miserably compared to the amazing VRC6 music and I want nothing to do with it.

That's a pretty bad glitch/oversight, though. I don't like the Alucard path at all. It's not very fun.

Spoiler

But still infinitely better than the crappy game he'd star in a few years later. *Equips flame shield*

[Sumez]

I'm surprised such a hack hasn't been made.

What are the precise differences between the two games? Some item placements are different, Grant doesn't throw knives as his regular attack, and the damage scale is completely changed. Anything else? Doesn't seem like it should be too hard to just implement that manually in the Famicom ROM. Though I wouldn't be able to guarantee it being 100% identical to the NES one.

[To Far Away Times]

Bought Lords of Shadow 1 on Steam since it was on sale.

It's not up to the level of the classic Castlevania's obviously, but it has far superior mechanics compared to the God of War games that it rips off. I've always wanted to go back and replay it.

I remember really liking the art design, and just how much art design there was. There were so many locations, enemies, etc and all of it top notch.

[Steven]

I'm surprised such a hack hasn't been made.

What are the precise differences between the two games? Some item placements are different, Grant doesn't throw knives as his regular attack, and the damage scale is completely changed. Anything else? Doesn't seem like it should be too hard to just implement that manually in the Famicom ROM. Though I wouldn't be able to guarantee it being 100% identical to the NES one.

There are a lot of differences. Here's a nice list: https://tcrf.net/Castlevania_III:_Dracu ... ifferences

Looks like they made some changes to enemy behaviour on loop 2, among many other things, which is pretty interesting.

But yeah, I am surprised that a hack to give CVIII the Akumajou Densetsu music doesn't exist at the least. A lot of the changes seem to be improvements, so it would be nice to have a version with the fixes but without the increased damage received. A Sonic 3 Complete type of hack that lets you choose what music you want, choose if received damage is from the Japanese version or the overseas version, toggle enemy behaviour, and toggle CVIII design improvement would be really good.

[Sumez]

But yeah, I am surprised that a hack to give CVIII the Akumajou Densetsu music doesn't exist at the least.

You'd need to get the game working on the same VRC6 chip that the Famicom version was designed for before you could even play the music. I really have no idea how many changes they had to make in the code to convert it to MMC5.

[Steven]

But yeah, I am surprised that a hack to give CVIII the Akumajou Densetsu music doesn't exist at the least.

You'd need to get the game working on the same VRC6 chip that the Famicom version was designed for before you could even play the music. I really have no idea how many changes they had to make in the code to convert it to MMC5.

Yeah, that would need to be done. Without looking at the code, there is no way to tell if it would be easier to do that than it would be to make the CVIII changes in Akumajou Densetsu, which is another possibility.

I still really want a second loop for Rondo, though. It would probably benefit from a second loop more than any other game in the series and of course it's the one that doesn't have it.

[Sumez]

I'd be down for designing a loop 2 in Rondo, I've already been digging into the code for that one. And I agree, as a massive contender for "best Castlevania game ever made" what it's sorely lacking is a way to amp up the challenge!
What would be interesting additions?

[Steven]

I'd say different enemy placement that makes the game more challenging, maybe more enemies in some places, different subweapon placement, higher damage received (I have not played Rondo for several years, so I don't even remember how it handles damage scaling over the course of the game), and maybe some alternate enemy and boss behaviour (more aggressive, new attacks, etc.) would be cool. Basically, loop 2 is arrange mode that is also harder than loop 1. Doing something like Sonic Mania's encore mode's recolored backgrounds would also be interesting, but not a priority.

[copy-paster]

Bought Lords of Shadow 1 on Steam since it was on sale.

It's not up to the level of the classic Castlevania's obviously, but it has far superior mechanics compared to the God of War games that it rips off. I've always wanted to go back and replay it.

I remember really liking the art design, and just how much art design there was. There were so many locations, enemies, etc and all of it top notch.

Interesting I always view LoS as God of War at home but looks like it has some decency to keep the game interesting, like the quasi Shadow of the Collosus style boss fight in some bosses. Sadly for whatever reason the game, alongside MGR Revengeance isn't available in our country so there's no other way than sailing through internet seas.

[Blinge]

The colossus bosses are some of the worst moments in that game.

I've heard the combat described as actually better/ more thoughtful than classic GoW. I can see that, but i didn't play the greeky games.
I enjoyed my time (plat) with Lords of Shadow but the best moments are when it's actually trying to be more of a Castlevania in the Act 2 gothic section.

The weird Catholic theming later on really doesn't help. and the story is hot fucking garbage

[Austin]

The general combat in LoS can be fun, for sure. Some of the level traversal and tiny bits of exploration are intriguing, too.

More fun than God of War though? Hm.. I'm not sure about that. When I revisited the game on Steam a few years back, I did find some of the standard boss fights being atrocious with awful collision detection. Like, you getting hit by attacks that clearly do not actually touch you. The fights with the giants can be really tedious as well.

I do appreciate the wall/rock climbing/traversal mechanics, but I feel they went overboard with the amount of it in the game. It just slows things down to a crawl and you are doing it.. all. the damn. time.. even on the final boss.

I need to get back to trying to finish Part 2. Its real-world moments were out of place and tedious last I tried, but I recall the gothic castle sequences being a marked improvement over the first game.

[Steven]

Anyone played the Symphony of the Night game.com prototype?

[Blinge]

So the new season of Castlevania on Netflix is supposedly all about how Richter fought the evil White Vampire slave trade. Damn, I forgot that part of Rondo.
wait, Richter.. aren't you supposed to be a whip cracking expert?

... i'm more surprised that this stuff still surprises me

[XoPachi]

So the new season of Castlevania on Netflix is supposedly all about how Richter fought the evil White Vampire slave trade. Damn, I forgot that part of Rondo.
wait, Richter.. aren't you supposed to be a whip cracking expert?

... i'm more surprised that this stuff still surprises me

I wouldnt say its ALL about that. SPOILERSPOILERSSPOILERS

Its really just the backdrop for one character and shes the one who kills her former vampiric plantation owner. Richter has no hand in it.
They also handled it in a way that, for once, isn't going "fuck whitey". She's comitted to liberating the entire world but her past as a slave was a driving force in the liberation of all people and getting over her fear of the past.

Personally I think its fitting. Carmilla was already talking about enslaving humans and Powerhouse Castlevania has had these themes of vampiric oppression since the beginning. You fast forward to the 1700's and it kind of...fits. Its an odd angle at first but I ended up appreciating it.
It also lets them bring in new mythos into Castlevania with African deities which is neat. I've actually always wanted to see that in media and the hodge podge of Castlevania's monster madness was perfect for it.

And make no mistake that the true evil of the show is not at all coming from the angle of "those damn negros". She is 100% a Castlevania super villain.

I think its worth a watch.

[cj iwakura]

Nocturne isn't firing on all cylinders out the gate like the original series was, but we'll see, I'll give it time. I definitely feel the change in writing staff.

[Blinge]

Alright Xo

maybe it's because I got my information from a verrrry reactionist friend who loses his shit at the first sniff of 'woke'
I'll give it a go if i can ever be bothered to watch anything at all

[Steven]

Played Rondo for the first time in like 3.5 years. 1CC get. I used to be able to go all the way up to like stage 6 without taking damage, but it's been a very long time and I suck at the game now and died a lot. Best I have ever done is a no miss to Shaft Ghost. Hopefully I'll get the no miss eventually.

[Sumez]

maybe it's because I got my information from a verrrry reactionist friend who loses his shit at the first sniff of 'woke'

As a general rule, you probably shouldn't listen too much to anyone who uses the word "woke" unironically

[Blinge]

I use it unironically.

You must not have spent enough time with kind of people the term really applies to.

I just had to sit through another lecture at work yesterday in which the diversity officer for the company patted herself on the back AGAIN for assembling such a diverse team. This to a paying audience present for completely unrelated lectures/workshops.
dunno what the fuck she's on about either, the team is 90% white/european

[Blinge]

Played Rondo for the first time in like 3.5 years. 1CC get. I used to be able to go all the way up to like stage 6 without taking damage, but it's been a very long time and I suck at the game now and died a lot. Best I have ever done is a no miss to Shaft Ghost. Hopefully I'll get the no miss eventually.

Bro sounds like it's within reach, keep at it!

[XoPachi]

To be fair, we've been getting an uptick in the kind of content people are accusing Nocturne of being. And Nocturne, on the face of it, *does* strike similar chords.
SPOILERSSPOILERSSPOILERS
I don't really care in this instance because good characters are good characters. But they did, literally turn Richter's girlfriend into a Haitian slave and Olrox into a gay Native American. Like on the face of it, that sounds extremely forced. But like Isaac in the previous series, personally I really enjoyed both characters and they really justified the drastic changes to me without feeling preachy. Not to mention, especially in Olrox's case, the reimaginings look great.

The critics are wrong in my opinion, but I also don't blame the initial reservations especially hot off the heels of garbage ass Velma and Snow White.

[cj iwakura]

Considering the Haitian Revolution is, as Richter put it, "one hell of an epic battle", I'm okay with it. It's funny how it's such an untapped resource for storytelling.

[Steven]

Played Rondo for the first time in like 3.5 years. 1CC get. I used to be able to go all the way up to like stage 6 without taking damage, but it's been a very long time and I suck at the game now and died a lot. Best I have ever done is a no miss to Shaft Ghost. Hopefully I'll get the no miss eventually.

Bro sounds like it's within reach, keep at it!

It would be nice. I died 6 or 7 times this time. Death killed me twice, first because I forgot how to avoid his skull things and then he knocked me overboard somehow, stage 6 killed me at least 4 times, and then I got killed by Dracula somehow even though he's like the second easiest boss in the game.

[Sengoku Strider]

Alright Xo

maybe it's because I got my information from a verrrry reactionist friend who loses his shit at the first sniff of 'woke'
I'll give it a go if i can ever be bothered to watch anything at all

I heard similar things about previous seasons, in which Alucard gets into bed with both a man and a woman, like him being bi is some sort of betrayal of the noble family-first Christian morals of bloodsucking demi-vampires or something. A certain segment of guys are just fucking babies about this sort of thing. And a certain segment of guys just have "hell in a handbasket I tell ya!" temper tantrums in lieu of an actual personality.

For what it's worth, the haters of this series are in the extreme minority:



I didn't care for the first season at all, only watched the second out of boredom one evening. But it hooked me as season by season it became far more compelling than the simple narratives in the games ever were.

[XoPachi]

Alucard being bi isn't the problem. At least not for me.

That scene to me was weird because a battle hardened, all wise dhampir facing loneliness and guilt tries to overcome it by.........having a threesome with strangers that just happened to stumble across him. Which almost gets him killed.
There are teenagers with more prudence than that. And I'm supposed to buy that Alucard let himself slip that hard?
I thoroughly get what they were trying to do, but it was just grossly, weirdly out of character to me and made Alucard seem absolutely stupid. But it didn't kill Alucard or the prior series for me. I think if there were problems with it, pacing is the biggest issue. And a lack of fanservice.

I'm kind of tired of them refusing to put in Castlevania music. The Sonic movies did the same shit too.
30+ year old franchises with iconic music pieces and only 2 familiar songs are used across 5 seasons. I'm not saying I want no original scores, but an even split would be nice.

Most of the critique I hear of the show is just that it's "boring" because slow burns and character drama isn't palatable for a lot of people.

[cj iwakura]

Yeah, that scene was weird as hell, and part of why I wasn't into the disjointed plot of S3/4. S1/2 are far better, and 3/4 shouldn't have even involved the trio from 1/2. The most interesting bits were easily involving Isaac and Hector.
Also, if you want Castlevania music, Nocturne delivers in spades.